VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0172/01 0141339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141339Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0915
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 9769
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JAN 9172
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 5780
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 1076
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 6487
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE PRIORITY 4708
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4263
RHMFISS/12AF DAVIS MONTHAN AFB AZ PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1528

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000172 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECSTATE FOR PRM, GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL ICRC CO
SUBJECT: ICRC/WFP ASSESSMENT OF IDP CONDITIONS AND AID 
DELIVERY IN EIGHT COLOMBIAN CITIES 
 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
delegation and the World Food Program (WFP) mission released 
a study of the humanitarian response to internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) in Colombia.  The two-year study, conducted in 
eight municipalities with the highest IDP populations, cited 
a need for more of the displaced to receive psycho-social 
support.  In addition, the study concluded that the GOC and 
local authorities need to provide IDPs with more access to 
training and income generation programs, more help in 
obtaining housing subsidies, and improved access to education 
and health systems.  The GOC welcomed the results of the 
study. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. On December 13, the ICRC and WFP presented its two-year 
study of the living conditions of IDPs - as well as the local 
humanitarian response - in eight Colombian cities 
(Barranquilla, Bogota, Cartagena, Florencia, Medellin, Santa 
Marta, Sincelejo and Villavicencio).  These are eight of the 
nine Colombian urban areas with the largest IDP populations. 
In total, the account for 563,000 registered IDPs (about 25 % 
of the total number in the GOC registry). 
 
-------------------------------- 
METHODOLOGY AND OVERALL FINDINGS 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. In the study, ICRC/WFP surveyed a sample of the IDP 
populations with questions that probed eight conditions: 
physical/mental status of the IDPs, emergency attention (1st 
90 days) they received, the perception of security, housing, 
access to health care, education, participation in income 
generation and training opportunities, and protection of 
forcibly abandoned property (land).  After identifying issues 
from the survey, the assessment team met with IDP groups, IDP 
leaders, local authorities, and humanitarian actors in each 
municipality.  Prior to the public roll-out, the ICRC/WFP 
team reviewed the results with GOC's Accion Social and key 
local authorities in all municipalities. 
 
¶4. Christina Oberli, ICRC Colombia's Assistance Coordinator, 
told the Refugee Coordinator that the purpose of the study 
was to raise awareness of the specific needs of IDPs and 
advise local, departmental and national authorities-- as well 
as international organizations--where additional resources 
are necessary.  The study found that while the institutional 
structure of IDP attention was sound, there were gaps in both 
delivery and coverage.  Problems included: 
 
- Overall, authorities must improve communication with IDPs 
on how to access and obtain services. Increased funding and 
resources for IDP service centers - Unidades de Atencion y 
Orientacion (UAO) -- was recommended. 
- Large numbers of IDPs in Cartagena, Santa Marta and 
Villavicencio choose not to register with public ministries 
that they have been displaced, due to lack of knowledge and 
fear of retaliation by illegal armed groups. 
- While a vast majority of registered IDPs access some form 
of basic Emergency Humanitarian Attention (food, hygiene 
kits, bedding, rent subsidies and health care), the 
percentage of un-registered IDPs that receive aid ranged from 
40% in Sincelejo to 0% in Barranquilla and Medellin. 
- The health sector was one of the better areas of IDP 
attention in all municipalities, but the IDPs surveyed 
reported problems in obtaining  health care subsidies in 
Barranquilla, Bogota and Santa Marta. 
- Bogota, Medellin and Sincelejo are expanding their funding 
of humanitarian aid through local development plans that 
bundle local, departmental, national and international 
private and public resources to address social and economic 
needs.  The other five municipalities have incorporated 
longer-term development plans for IDPs in their local 
planning. 
 
¶6. During the study period, Villavicencio was the 
municipality in need of the greatest overall improvement in 
its attention to IDPs.  The United Nations High Commissioner 
for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for 
 
Migration (IOM) in recent months they have worked with 
authorities in Villavicencio to make significant improvements 
in the quality and condition of the UAO and the overall 
service delivered to IDPs. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Emergency Humanitarian Attention (AHE) Needs 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. The study found most IDPs received AHE from Accion Social 
and its implementing partner CHF International. Other key 
assistance organizations include the ICRC, Pastoral Social 
and a range of civil society groups also provide AHE. 
Overall, the quality and coordination of basic AHE to IDPs 
functions well, needing only minor improvements in specific 
municipalities.  Medellin, considered by many UN 
organizations as providing model services to IDPs, was 
identified as the municipality that needs to make the 
greatest improvements in providing basic AHE.  The study 
rates food assistance programs in all eight locations as 
functioning well with respect to opportunity, adequacy and 
quality, but calls for improvements in the delivery of food 
aid after the first 90 days. In general, ICRC said the 60-70% 
of adults and 25% of children consume less than three meals a 
day. 
 
¶8. The study noted that IDP access to psycho-social services 
required improvement in all eight municipalities.  Part of 
the problem is that while many say that they need 
pyscho-social attention, few IDPs request or participate in 
it.  Even after psycho-social support is offered, many IDPs 
opt out of participating, preferring to focus on returning to 
work or improving their economic situation. The problem is 
most acute in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Florencia, Medellin, 
Santa Marta, and Sincelejo.  The study recommends that 
psycho-social attention occur in the initial contact that 
humanitarian actors have with IDPs (most NGOs already do 
this) and that additional analysis and coordination on the 
unique mental health needs of IDP families be made. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Long-Term Economic Stabilization Needs 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. The study cited two areas that require immediate attention 
after the first 90 days: access to housing assistance and 
greater income generation (IG)/training opportunities.  In 
all locations except Bogota and Medellin, the study 
recommends an expansion of housing subsidy programs for IDPs. 
 The study notes that only 20% of IDP households participate 
in IG programs, and recommends increasing IDP access to and 
involvement in training programs in all eight municipalities. 
 The study praised the overall quality of IG programs. 
 
¶10. In addition to assistance delivery, the study examined 
IDPs' ability to regain land which they were forced to 
abandon due to the conflict.  40-67% of IDPs reported being 
forced off their lands, but only 50% have made official 
requests to regain their property to the GOC's land agency, 
INCODER.  IDPs fail to make these requests because of: 
ignorance of where and how to declare lost property, lack of 
documentation (no title to the property), and fear of 
retaliation from armed groups as the IDP's name will appear 
on a public list.  The study recommends that the GOC develop 
new alternatives to help IDPs return to their abandoned 
homes.  It should be noted that GOC land protection/recovery 
program are slowly beginning to take shape.  The Ministry of 
Agriculture and Rural Development recently rolled out its 
Programa de Recuperacion de Tierras (PRORET) - a pilot 
program with funding from USAID's Alternative Development 
program - that seeks to help IDPs, especially Afro-Colombians 
and Indigenous displaced, to recover forcibly abandoned 
properties. 
 
------------ 
GOC Reaction 
------------ 
 
¶11. The GOC welcomed the study's findings.  Accion Social's 
Program Director Diego Molano said the study provides a good 
base line of data that national and local authorities can use 
 
to improve their overall response.  Accion Social added that 
they appreciated both the objectivity of the study and the 
opportunity to provide the ICRC and WFP with feedback prior 
to its public roll-out. 
Brownfield